Robin Olds

[EDowning]

Owen Miller wrote:

Returning for a moment to the original subject...........

OOPS! Sorry about that, your absolutely right.

[6trn4brn]

In the last email that I got from the General, that is exactly what he told me...that he was trying like Hellen to get that dammed book done to get his publisher off of his behind! Much more colorful language than that

Would love to know if his family is going to take what he had done and finish the book.

[Chicoartist]

I talked to a retired naval officer named Fred Vogt that had two Mig kills flying F-4's. One was confirmed and the other was "classified" because he was in an area we weren't supposed to be in. He said he thought eventually the information would be declasified and he would be given credit. Is there any chance that Olds had more kills, over areas we weren't supposed to be in, and may eventually get credited for?

Just for fun, I looked up Voigt's victory in my Olynyk books. I assume that he's the same guy you're talking about. Here are the details of the victory:

14 Feb 68
0810
MiG-17 (1 confirmed)
21-22N, 105-42E
Maj. Rex D Howerton - pilot
1Lt Ted L Voigt - copilot/pilot-rated WSO
555 TFS, 8 TFW
F-4D-30-MC, 66-7554
20mm cannon kill*

*Interesting that the weapon used (F-4D) is listed as 20mm cannon. Maybe a centerline SUU-16 pod? The kills bracketing the one above are almost all AIM-4, AIM-7 or AIM-9 victories, with just a few other F-4D 20mm kills, and of course the F-105 20mm victories.

No mention for a possible 2nd victory for Voigt, though maybe one day our great-grandkids will find out for sure ...

Wade

[tom d. friedman]

yes centerline 20mm pod was the armament. the f-4 was built with out a gun, missiles only, the designers were a little to far ahead in their minds, it took the air crews to convey what was needed from the trenches.

[ripcord]

Just how many kills were made with the AIM-4? I read somewhere Gen. Olds was instrumental in getting the AF Phantoms set up for the AIM 7 @ 9 (like the Navy) because he hated the Falcon.

[marine air]

I will go back and check my sources. He was the Bureau chief of the Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics at the time(ten years ago) and when he retired he moved back to his home state in New England. Maybe it was New Hampshire, can't recall. He did two or three tours in Vietnam, one as an enlisted maybe and I definitely remember him saying one as a "backseater" and another after going to flight school. The second Mig he shot down was in Cambodia or somewhere north where he wasn't allowed to be flying. He said they had gun camera film etc.
He also wrote an article for one of the Vietnam themed magazines around that time 10 or 12 years ago. Can't remember the name, it could have been "Soldier of Fortune", but I think it was a more credible magazine than that one.

[Paul Krumrei]

I will never forget meeting him at Osh in 2005. I listened to him speak in front of the Skat IV P-51 and him telling some stories.

After, he stood there and signed autographs and spoke to people, I was one of the last to step up and with my jaw dropped, I was just star struck by him. I had my purple heart hat on and I shook his hand and said, Sir, thank you so much for serving your country and I am honored to meet you. He looked at me and said, you were in the Air Force I take it? I said, yes sir, Desert Storm, purple heart he said huh? I said yes sir. He looks at me and said, No, thank you for your service.

I was like, but sir, you did more for this country, then I did, he smiled and said, you served right? I said yes sir, then We are all brothers and we did our jobs, some just get more medals than others, but we are all the same.



He put his hand on my shoulder and said, like I said, thank you for your service. I said, thank you too sir. He smiled and walked away.



I will never forget that.

[Jack Cook]

I said, yes sir, Desert Storm, purple heart he said huh? I said yes sir.

Geez PH, how'd that happen???

[Paul Krumrei]

I said, yes sir, Desert Storm, purple heart he said huh? I said yes sir.

Geez PH, how'd that happen???

Friendly Fire,in Kuwait City.

[EDowning]

You had originally said "A Marine shot you in the back" and then edited it out.
How did that happen? In the back with what, M16? Intentional?

Check out this website http://www.thepurpleheart.com/ it is a really cool place, if you haven't registered, it looks like it's a genuine place of honor.

Last edited by EDowning on Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Punisher05]

I was like, but sir, you did more for this country, then I did, he smiled and said, you served right? I said yes sir, then We are all brothers and we did our jobs, some just get more medals than others, but we are all the same.



He put his hand on my shoulder and said, like I said, thank you for your service. I said, thank you too sir. He smiled and walked away.



I will never forget that.

What a class act....

[Paul Krumrei]

You had originally said "A Marine shot you in the back" and then edited it out.
How did that happen? In the back with what, M16? Intentional?

Check out this website http://www.thepurpleheart.com/ it is a really cool place, if you haven't registered, it looks like it's a genuine place of honor.

M16 Round yes, I edited it out, because it was not totally confirmed by a Marine, but it was, because a unit was behind us at the time, and no where it could have came from but them by accident.

[mustangdriver]

Thank you for your service as well Sir.